AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so I released this one at the same time as Chapter
17. It's just that it was so depressing! (and pretty short) So I gave you
a treat. You'll notice I spent six chapters on her stay in Mainstream
Earth with the X-Men, but I only wrote one and a half chapters about her
days of wandering. In the four months she stayed in ME, a lot happened,
while she basically only goes through two stages during the 958 years she
wandered through time: bitter, self-loathing Rachel, and the Child of Light
and Darkness that she was meant to be. Okay, I'm done with my speech. I
hope you like this one!
616 timeline 11-03-2004 Bury, Manchester, England
The city street was full of cars and busses, rolling slowly over the beginnings of winter's frost, while hundreds of people lined the sidewalk, shoving at each other impatiently. A toddler tagged along behind his mother, pulled by a leash that ran from her wrist to the harness on his chest. He looked up, and a tiny tear in the sky opened before his eyes. A young woman fell out of the rip, flying upon wings of flame. The little boy pointed, and said, "Angel, Mommy! Angel." His mother tugged gently on his leash. "Yes, sweetheart," she sighed, preoccupied.
As Rachel Summers landed upon a cement rooftop, she absorbed the thoughts of those around her. In the alley below, a homeless teenager by the name of Curtis was being brutally beaten by a dozen of his peers for a loaf of bread. Curtis worked at the shelter on Hedgerow Lane for food and board. After hearing that his estranged father was alive, he'd decided to bring him the bread, in hopes of inspiring within his dad a change of lifestyle. Yet, the other kids of the neighborhood had seen the brown bag under his arm, and they were prepared to kill the "puny twerp" for the bounty, if needed.
Across the street, a young mutant named Maggie had just witnessed her father's murder. The six-year-old was destined to become the leader of a special interest group that would fight the MRA and help prevent the Mutant Massacre. However, after the traumatic experience she was about to endure, she'd instead choose a life of crime, assassinating several anti-mutant politicians, and unwittingly fuel the persecution of her kind.
Around the corner, a war was brewing between a gang that called themselves the Urchins and a huge law firm, Brewer & Silverstein. The firm's main client, criminal Johnny Gudde, had killed one of the Urchins. Now, over 60 men, women, and teenagers stood in a face-off that was about to erupt, killing all but 3 of them. Among the casualties would be an Urchin named Shane, who was supposed to become one of the first non-mutant mutant activists, and Ofra, an old woman who happened to walk into the firm's lobby at the wrong moment.
Rachel took a deep breath, pulled her mind back inside of herself, and dived off the roof's ledge. She landed upon one of the neighborhood thugs, sending an electric shock through his central nervous system. Using his body as a bat, she threw him into two of his buddies. She delivered a powerful optic blast to another teen, who was on top of Curtis. As he fell forward, she grabbed Curtis with a gentle blanket of TK, pulling him behind her and out of harm's way. She put a shield around him and his drunken father, and turned back to the other bullies. She'd moved so fast, they just now noticed her presence. Three came toward her in a rush.
Moving at the speed of light, she danced circles around them, and left all three twitching upon the ground from a lethal karate-chop to the neck. As two more charged, she jumped five feet into the air and placed her boots upon their chests. She gave a push of amazing force, sending them flying backwards into brick. She flipped back to the opposite wall, bouncing off like a pinball to the final teenager. She hit him with such momentum that he died upon impact.
Not stopping for an instant, she lifted her shield from the boy, and ran headlong into moving traffic. She phased through the vehicles all around her, which were honking noisily in protest, and kept running, straight through the door of the apartment where Maggie lived. Before the vile thief bending over her had even realized that Rachel had entered, she stabbed him through the brain stem with a telekinetic dagger, and vaporized his body. She ran over to the young girl, whose underwear was torn and bloody, and sent her into a smooth slumber. In an instant, she touched Maggie and her father, healing them both of their wounds, and erasing their terrible memories from existence.
She continued running, through several buildings, streets, and alleyways, invisible to everyone she passed, until she came to a huge skyscraper of glass and metal. Ofra was at the door, about to pull it open, and so pull the trigger of every skittish character inside. Rachel ran to her, and, just as she swung the door open, wrapped her arms around her, forcing her to the ground. Bullets, scrap-metal, and glass hit her back without doing any damage. Ofra, scared by the stranger, crawled away from her and ran to call the police. Rachel walked through what had once been a window into the building's lobby.
Several of the machine guns turned toward her, and she created a magnetic field around herself, so that the numerous bullets swirled around her, shaping into the form of a phoenix. She hurled them at the firm's gunmen, and a little more than a dozen of her foes dropped to the ground. She gave a pull, and every handgun, rifle, and machine gun that fired from the right side of the room flew from their owner's hands and to the Urchins' feet on the left. She stood between the two parties, drawing a line in the sand, and making her intentions known. She turned to Johnny Gudde's murderous lackeys and spread her arms wide. In a single sweep of telekinesis, she shoved them into the wall at 80 mph, most of them dead upon impact.
She turned to the Urchins, who backed away in fear. She sent out a mute telepathic message to them, warning them that if they did not choose a different lifestyle for themselves, they'd die before they ever hit 21 years. She sent with it a single picture. Each of the teenagers before her saw themselves dead upon the streets, a nameless body, a statistic. She knew that most of them would never break the cycle they were born into, but she also foresaw the few, Shane included, who would make a choice for life.
Rachel teleported out of the lobby and onto the building's roof as she left their mind. When she looked up, she was surprised to see someone waiting for her. A tall, muscular man with silver hair looked down upon her, his crystal blue eyes worn with worry.
"Rachel," Cable said with a tired sigh, "how are you making this magic?"
* * *
616 timeline 11-03-2004 Woodbridge, Suffolk, England
He was starting to worry that he'd come too late, that Rachel had already lost her fight with the Phoenix Force and was no longer human. She hadn't said a word since he'd met her in Manchester, and she had kept her mind closed from him as well. Now, as they drove through the circle driveway of the Braddock Manor, she finally showed a hint of emotion. She was panicked.
He grasped her hand, and she jerked. She hadn't been touched by another being for almost a millennia, and she certainly didn't feel like being consoled at this particular moment. "Rachel," he said calmly, "this is a safe haven."
~They know me here!~ she spat at him. ~You had no right to bring me here. I'm not even supposed to *be* here!~
"Yes, you are," he answered, keeping his voice calm
~I'm exiled from creation!! Does that mean nothing to you?! You're violating sacred law. I won't allow~
He cut her off. "Rachel, your memory is infinite. Think back."
She shut her mouth and threw him a confused glare. She scanned his mind to find a single sentence engraved before her. ~Rachel Summers, you are banished from creation, damned to wander the rest of your days, until you have reset the balance you so recklessly disturbed.~ The Watchers' words burned shame into her, even a thousand years later.
Cable took her hand again. "You've reset the balance. It's taken you more deeds than a single man can count, but you've done it. The Watchers have lifted you from exile." He could see his words taking effect in her eyes, but they didn't ease all her fears. "Come on," he said, pulling her with him toward the great wooden doors. She followed reluctantly, afraid of this new world and its familiar faces. She didn't even deserve a safe haven. What if she lost control in M.E.; what if she destroyed the proverbial center of the universe? Were a few nights of rest worth another dozen lifetimes of reparation?
616 timeline 11-03-2004 Bury, Manchester, England
The city street was full of cars and busses, rolling slowly over the beginnings of winter's frost, while hundreds of people lined the sidewalk, shoving at each other impatiently. A toddler tagged along behind his mother, pulled by a leash that ran from her wrist to the harness on his chest. He looked up, and a tiny tear in the sky opened before his eyes. A young woman fell out of the rip, flying upon wings of flame. The little boy pointed, and said, "Angel, Mommy! Angel." His mother tugged gently on his leash. "Yes, sweetheart," she sighed, preoccupied.
As Rachel Summers landed upon a cement rooftop, she absorbed the thoughts of those around her. In the alley below, a homeless teenager by the name of Curtis was being brutally beaten by a dozen of his peers for a loaf of bread. Curtis worked at the shelter on Hedgerow Lane for food and board. After hearing that his estranged father was alive, he'd decided to bring him the bread, in hopes of inspiring within his dad a change of lifestyle. Yet, the other kids of the neighborhood had seen the brown bag under his arm, and they were prepared to kill the "puny twerp" for the bounty, if needed.
Across the street, a young mutant named Maggie had just witnessed her father's murder. The six-year-old was destined to become the leader of a special interest group that would fight the MRA and help prevent the Mutant Massacre. However, after the traumatic experience she was about to endure, she'd instead choose a life of crime, assassinating several anti-mutant politicians, and unwittingly fuel the persecution of her kind.
Around the corner, a war was brewing between a gang that called themselves the Urchins and a huge law firm, Brewer & Silverstein. The firm's main client, criminal Johnny Gudde, had killed one of the Urchins. Now, over 60 men, women, and teenagers stood in a face-off that was about to erupt, killing all but 3 of them. Among the casualties would be an Urchin named Shane, who was supposed to become one of the first non-mutant mutant activists, and Ofra, an old woman who happened to walk into the firm's lobby at the wrong moment.
Rachel took a deep breath, pulled her mind back inside of herself, and dived off the roof's ledge. She landed upon one of the neighborhood thugs, sending an electric shock through his central nervous system. Using his body as a bat, she threw him into two of his buddies. She delivered a powerful optic blast to another teen, who was on top of Curtis. As he fell forward, she grabbed Curtis with a gentle blanket of TK, pulling him behind her and out of harm's way. She put a shield around him and his drunken father, and turned back to the other bullies. She'd moved so fast, they just now noticed her presence. Three came toward her in a rush.
Moving at the speed of light, she danced circles around them, and left all three twitching upon the ground from a lethal karate-chop to the neck. As two more charged, she jumped five feet into the air and placed her boots upon their chests. She gave a push of amazing force, sending them flying backwards into brick. She flipped back to the opposite wall, bouncing off like a pinball to the final teenager. She hit him with such momentum that he died upon impact.
Not stopping for an instant, she lifted her shield from the boy, and ran headlong into moving traffic. She phased through the vehicles all around her, which were honking noisily in protest, and kept running, straight through the door of the apartment where Maggie lived. Before the vile thief bending over her had even realized that Rachel had entered, she stabbed him through the brain stem with a telekinetic dagger, and vaporized his body. She ran over to the young girl, whose underwear was torn and bloody, and sent her into a smooth slumber. In an instant, she touched Maggie and her father, healing them both of their wounds, and erasing their terrible memories from existence.
She continued running, through several buildings, streets, and alleyways, invisible to everyone she passed, until she came to a huge skyscraper of glass and metal. Ofra was at the door, about to pull it open, and so pull the trigger of every skittish character inside. Rachel ran to her, and, just as she swung the door open, wrapped her arms around her, forcing her to the ground. Bullets, scrap-metal, and glass hit her back without doing any damage. Ofra, scared by the stranger, crawled away from her and ran to call the police. Rachel walked through what had once been a window into the building's lobby.
Several of the machine guns turned toward her, and she created a magnetic field around herself, so that the numerous bullets swirled around her, shaping into the form of a phoenix. She hurled them at the firm's gunmen, and a little more than a dozen of her foes dropped to the ground. She gave a pull, and every handgun, rifle, and machine gun that fired from the right side of the room flew from their owner's hands and to the Urchins' feet on the left. She stood between the two parties, drawing a line in the sand, and making her intentions known. She turned to Johnny Gudde's murderous lackeys and spread her arms wide. In a single sweep of telekinesis, she shoved them into the wall at 80 mph, most of them dead upon impact.
She turned to the Urchins, who backed away in fear. She sent out a mute telepathic message to them, warning them that if they did not choose a different lifestyle for themselves, they'd die before they ever hit 21 years. She sent with it a single picture. Each of the teenagers before her saw themselves dead upon the streets, a nameless body, a statistic. She knew that most of them would never break the cycle they were born into, but she also foresaw the few, Shane included, who would make a choice for life.
Rachel teleported out of the lobby and onto the building's roof as she left their mind. When she looked up, she was surprised to see someone waiting for her. A tall, muscular man with silver hair looked down upon her, his crystal blue eyes worn with worry.
"Rachel," Cable said with a tired sigh, "how are you making this magic?"
* * *
616 timeline 11-03-2004 Woodbridge, Suffolk, England
He was starting to worry that he'd come too late, that Rachel had already lost her fight with the Phoenix Force and was no longer human. She hadn't said a word since he'd met her in Manchester, and she had kept her mind closed from him as well. Now, as they drove through the circle driveway of the Braddock Manor, she finally showed a hint of emotion. She was panicked.
He grasped her hand, and she jerked. She hadn't been touched by another being for almost a millennia, and she certainly didn't feel like being consoled at this particular moment. "Rachel," he said calmly, "this is a safe haven."
~They know me here!~ she spat at him. ~You had no right to bring me here. I'm not even supposed to *be* here!~
"Yes, you are," he answered, keeping his voice calm
~I'm exiled from creation!! Does that mean nothing to you?! You're violating sacred law. I won't allow~
He cut her off. "Rachel, your memory is infinite. Think back."
She shut her mouth and threw him a confused glare. She scanned his mind to find a single sentence engraved before her. ~Rachel Summers, you are banished from creation, damned to wander the rest of your days, until you have reset the balance you so recklessly disturbed.~ The Watchers' words burned shame into her, even a thousand years later.
Cable took her hand again. "You've reset the balance. It's taken you more deeds than a single man can count, but you've done it. The Watchers have lifted you from exile." He could see his words taking effect in her eyes, but they didn't ease all her fears. "Come on," he said, pulling her with him toward the great wooden doors. She followed reluctantly, afraid of this new world and its familiar faces. She didn't even deserve a safe haven. What if she lost control in M.E.; what if she destroyed the proverbial center of the universe? Were a few nights of rest worth another dozen lifetimes of reparation?